Okami Disciples: The Return of Darkness
by Janborra the Forced Rogue
Summary: 100 years after Amaterasu's defeat of Yami, Kutone has been taken from its altar and darkness returns. A new hopeful to make it to the celestial plain must light the darkness beside a poncle girl and wep'keer priestess. I only own Ikon and Komiya
1. Prologue

**Okami: The Disciples**

Prologue

The young Wep'keer villager stood in front of Kutone, its blade burning with a bright silver glow. He'd thought about this for a long time. If he could pull the blade from its resting place, and if its glow turned pure white, no longer would he be compared to his grandfather.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice spoke behind him," you'll be surprised by how unworhty you really are." The boy turned toward the sound of the voice, expecting to see the mask of a fellow Wep'keer villager; instead, he saw a small poncle with a green aura bouncing on one of the four pillars of Kutone's shrine.

"How about you stay out of my affairs you little bug," said the boy. At the sound of the insult, the aura around the poncle turned deep red with anger.

"Hey, that's no way to treat your elder's Ikon!" At the sound of his name, the young Wep'keer boy stepped back in surprise. Why would a poncle be at the shrine of Kutone like this at the time he was going to pull Kutone from it's slumber, shouldn't they be in Ponc'tan; and even more important, how did this one know his name?

"That's right, I know who you are, well enough I got here too, 100 years it's been since your gramps put that sword in that shrine, and it's definitely not you who should be the one who pulls it out," the poncle said, his aura returing to its original color.

"Who cares, I did it anyway," Ikon said, as he sheathed Kutone behind his back. He started to walk back to the village, but something stopped him, the poncle hadn't said anything, no smart remarks, that seemed odd.

He turned to see the poncle in a confusing state. He seemed dazed, his aura became a pale gray. A closer look (really close) revealed that his eyes had glazed over and his mouth was moving in pantomime. When he finally came to he muttered something like 'feeling balmy' under his breath and then stood erect, his aura shining a brilliant emerald shade.

"You, Ikon," the poncle said, his voice booming with an authority that didn't fit his size,"will have to fix your mistake." Ikon stood perfectly still, he was flabbergasted by the sudden change in the atmosphere at the poncles accusation. What was his mistake, perhaps living, he thought. He was one of the only two living relatives to Oki, the former vilage chieftan after Chief Samickle died, and he hadn't done anything to show he was worthy of being judged, then he remembered Kutone sheathed on his back.

"My mistake," Ikon said as he unsheathed Kutone and pointed it at the poncle,"is sitting here listening to a foolish old poncle like yourself. Now, get out of my sight you little bug."

"I told you not to call me that," the poncle said and he threw himself at Ikon, time then suddenly seemed to stop and start again as Kutone relocated itself in a flash as a different weapon appeared on Ikon's back.

"What did you do," Ikon said as he turned in circles trying to see the new weapon on his back,"how is Kutone back in it's altar?"

"Chasing your tail, really,"the poncle said shaking his head,"it's a divine instrument, used by the Celestials to fight evil." Ikon was about to ask what he meant by 'evil,' when suddenly he stopped himself. He could literally see the answer before him. There above Laochi Lake, a small dark orb appeared, Ikon turned his sight to Kutone, its silver shine was gone and it seemed to be covered by rust.

"What happened, did I do that," Ikon said as turned back to the poncle.

"Well, what do you think, you can't just go pulling ancient and powerful swords from altars like that and not expect something bad to happen," the poncle started as he bounced back and forth almost like he was pacing,"but what you should be more worried about how to undo this."

You really screwed up this time kid, pulling Kutone from its altar caused it to lose its shine," the poncle continued with that same booming tone that had confused Ikon before,"now, you've been chosen by the great Mother of Earth Amaterasu to fix this mess, that weapon on your back is the divine instrument, Tsutomi Kutone, and as much as I'd rather just beat the hell you've unleashed on the world alone, she wants you to do it instead, that way I can get to the celestial plain this year, and we can be together, because that's aparrently what she wants more; but I digress, you need to go to ponc'tan and find a young poncle named Bunshi, he is my grandson. He will join you on this mission, take priestess Lika with you, she knows Yoshpet well enough to get you to ponc'tan, and they both can get you to the spirit gate; when you enter the spirit gate, do not exit until you have obtained the power to restore what should be in front of you, but is destroyed.

"You think you can quit talking in riddles and quips and just tell me already, because that little dark orb is freaking me out, and I want to get it destroyed fast," Ikon said ponting toward the orb now growing slightly in size. At the sight of the orb the poncle seemed to laugh at some inside joke, and turn back to Ikon.

"You and me both, now quickly, follow my instructions, and light the darkness with the instruments of light," the poncle said, anthen turned his back to Ikon to signify that it was time to leave, which he did. After Ikon left, a golden furred wolf appeared and beside the poncle and transformed into a aging woman.

"Amaterasu wants Ikon of all people, why him Issun," the woman asked the poncle,"why would whe need him," the woman said.

"Because of his connections, he is your and Oki's grandson, and he can't change that, he always wanted people to stop comparing him to his gramps. well beggars can't be choosers, and he begged for people to stop doing that, now instead, they'll compare him to Ammy, and he'll have to be up to the challenge," Issun said, looking at the woman.

Something caught their attention and they looked up to see an ark, black with blue lunar art along its sides, its course set, slowly but surely, for Laochi lake.

"Looks like their finally here to get us," Issun said,"I've spent the last twenty-five years of my life wondering if I'd end up like my gramps, dying before I even got on it, and it really ticked me off,now I just wish the damn thing would turn around and leave me here, but Ammy wouldn't have that." Issun pulled out the pipe he'd gotten from his gramps and lit it with inferno, then sat and started to smoke it.

"You do know that's bad for you," the woman said as she looked at the smoke from the pipe, waving it from her face.

"What, we're going to the celestial plain, we get there and we become immortal, smoking from this pipe won't be what'll kill me," Issun said as he finished and put it away,"the real scary thought is if Ammy catches me." The ark stopped above the lake and a rainbow bridge shot forth from the altar as to connect the two things together like a puzzle. With one last look back, Issun started up the bridge, the woman following behind him. Ikon's adventure had just began, theirs was ending, but finding a new adventure wasn't hard to do. In fact, it'd already begun.


	2. Chapter 1 Beginnings

Chapter One

Issun and the woman walked into a beautiful sight as soon as they came off the rainbow bridge and onto the ark. The walls and ceiling seemed to be made of clay molded by the most divine artists. Upon the walls runes could be seen depicting epic battles between brave heroes and the vilest of demons. The room that they entered first seemed to be the core of the ship; it was an empty room with many bridges connecting each room to one platform in the middle. Each room that was connected around the core seemed to be lit by some hidden power source, and was just as magnificently adorned (at least that's what it seemed from the outside of them).

"Bonjour, my little bouncing friend," a velvety rough voice from above them said," alongside Oki's prize," the voice belonged to a young looking man with blond hair that came down on both sides, but not he back; he seemed very joyful to be seeing his old friends yet again.

The young looking man leapt gracefully from his place above the arks entrance and landed almost floating in front of the poncle and woman. At the sight of this, Issun looked disgusted he crossed his arms and turned away from the man.

_That Bastard,_ Issun thought,_ why does he always have to do that every time we meet;_ the thought of Waka doing this around Amaterasu made him sick to his stomach.

"Is that any way to speak to old friends Waka, after all, that is definitely not my name" the old woman said, taking the same pose as Issun.

"Ah, forgive me Kai, I just haven't seen the two of you face to face in such a long time and thought it would be nice to open with a joke or two."

"Quit fooling around and tell me where Ammy is," Issun said using his pet name for Amaterasu, the hottest god (not just because she was the god of the sun) among all the celestials to him," I know she's here and she's got a lot of explaining to do." The poncles aura was glowing bright red for a while as Waka seemed to decide what he should say next.

_He better not say something like 'oh Amaterasu, my lovely wife' or else my trusty sword Denkomaru will have to teach him a lesson about joking around,_ the poncle thought as Waka came to a decision.

"Ah, she can't see you in your current state, go through there," Waka said pointing to one of the five rooms connected to the core," you'll find that we have a more appropriate, 'getup' as you would say, for you to see her in."

A confused Issun followed Waka's instructions and walked to the room via a pair of the interconnected bridges, he didn't get what the big joke about how he looked was.

_Ammy's never cared about how I've looked before, why is this time different,_ he thought. The answer to his thoughts became apparent as soon as he walked into the room, a bright light blinded him for a second and afterward everything seemed to become smaller to him;

_What have they done this time_, he thought. A small pond of water sat in the middle of the new room, which he walked up to and examined his new 'getup' as Waka called it. He had become a wolf, the cap he usually wore on his head was now nestled neatly between his ears, and Denkomaru was now huge; not only could he see its hilt just looking at his face, but further inspection shown that the blade was about 1 1/2 of his body length, which was definitely nothing to sneeze at. He had broad shoulders (if that's what you wanted to call them, Mountains of Muscle seemed more appropriate to him,) he had dark fur with green markings that seemed to match all of the memories he'd had of Ammy.

"So this is why dogs chase their tail," Issun said as he admired the new form he had taken in the water's reflection," they just want to see how it looks." Issun smiled at this revelation, he'd commented on Ikon doing exactly what he wanted to do now, maybe that kid wasn't so bad. That's when he remembered what he came in this room for.

_Ammy,_ Issun thought as he turned to march out the room,_ you have a lot of explaining to do._

_I know,_ came a voice inside Issun's head, _I thought you'd warm up a bit after the upgrade._

_Upgrade, whaddaya mean Ammy._

_You're new look silly, _came Amaterasu's beautiful face in his head, _I thought you wouldn't care as much about the whole Ikon thing if you finally got the chance to be with me on a...different level._

_Really, heh, never thought too much about that stuff with you,_ Issun said as made his way back to Waka.

_Oh, you don't have to worry about Waka, just get on the middle platform,_ Ammy's said, a hint of glee in her voice, at least Issun thought, to get down to business,_ depends on what business you mean._

_Please Ammy, that's kinda rude interrupting my personal thoughts like that, is it going to be like this all the time now, _Issun inquired though it was fun knowing that she actually cared what he thought about.

_No, only when we're in the same form,_ Ammy said,_ I know, that'll probably get creepy every now and then huh._

_I guess, _Issun thought back, this time trying to gauge Ammy's more personal thoughts, finding nothing.

_You don't need to dig into my personal thoughts Issun, I'm laying everything out for you, _Ammy said, _and I was kinda hoping you would to, instead of keeping me out of your head._

_Trust me, sometimes that's not the best place to be, look, let's continue this conversation face to face, I'm almost at the platform, _Issun said as he stopped to look around, he needed to think things through and it wasn't easy to do with Ammy in his thoughts, he had a contingency plan, but wasn't sure Ammy was going to like it to well.

_I don't like it, messing with the dead can have serious consequences, even if it could make Ikon better, you don't know if he will, _Ammy said, the fear that was coming over her rocking Issun to the core, _sorry, I know you can handle it, but it just makes me afraid, what if he doesn't do what you want?_

_Then I'll UN-revive him, you just relax and let me handle it, you won't have to get your hands dirty at all._

_Fine, but you better be careful._

_I will, don't worry, and I'll be there in a minute to be with you in person Ammy, _Issun thought, he needed to be with her desperately, it took everything he had not to run like a tripping rat just to see her, _I need you._

_Issun?_

_What is it Ammy?_

_I'm sorry about not letting you handle that problem before, I know you could have handled it, but it just would've made the wait for you longer, and the kid really should handle this._

_Yeah, but you don't need to apologize, you've got a lot on me when it comes to crap I've pulled._

_I guess, but you've never put the world in danger with your crap._

_Not yet anyway, I have an eternity to do that._

_You're right, so I guess I should get ready to give you a lot of forgiveness._

_I'll need it if __**my**__ plan doesn't go through, right._

***

Ikon sat in the middle of priestess Lika's tent in Wep'keer staring at the floor beneath him, he was embarrassed that he was actually following the instructions of that stupid poncle anyway. What made it worse was that weapon he'd put on his back, what was it he called it, a 'divine instrument.

"It seems you've pulled one prank too many this time, Ikon," the priestess said as she turned to see him, she was a true Oina, someone in Wep'keer who could transform into an animal like _all_ the villagers could before non-Oina warriors joined Wep'keer to change that," what were you thinking, pulling Kutone from its altar, now darkness is going to return all around the world because of you. I find it very fitting that Elder Issun told you to fix this."

"Elder Issun," Ikon said, bewildered, so that poncle was an elder in his village, but Ikon had never heard of a poncle named Issun anywhere except...but there was no way," you mean to tell me that he was _the_ Issun, the one who assisted the legendary Shiranui 100 years ago, that Issun."

"The very same one, and now you're stuck following his instructions, because they come from amaterasu herself," Lika said, looking at Ikon with stern eyes," and this poncle he wants joining you, and myself must help you fix this now, you really just couldn't help yourself could you."

"So, you don't have to come, I can get through yoshpet myself," Ikon said, but then he realized the flaw in his plan," but I can't enter Ponc'tan without a lucky mallet, so if you don't mind."

"I do mind, and you're not going on this journey alone, you have to have someone to guide you, and you won't be able to light the darkness in some parts of Nippon without help," Lika said, she made to say something else , but an evil noise outside made her stop suddenly and reach inside a drawer for something, when she finally came out from the drawer, she pulled out three things, a small sheath for some kind of weapon, a pouch that seemed to be for storing food, and a mallet that seemed to not want to be held in her hand," this stupid thing never wants to stay still, and they call it lucky, all it does is cause me strife.

Here, take this," Lika continued throwing the sheath and pouch to Ikon," the sheath is the only thing that can hide that divine instrument no matter who can see a god in their true form, whatever it's name is, I don't care, the pouch is an astral pouch, if you die in battle it can revive you."

"Die in battle," Ikon said," what the hell you think we're going to be doing. I don't plan on kicking the bucket any time soon."

"Either way, you should take it as a precaution, I don't know what your strengths and weaknesses are yet, so we should keep it safe, it's already full, so you don't have to worry about using it, hurry, sheathe the weapon, no one in ponc'tan will question what it is if they can't see it, and we'll have to transform so tie that pouch around your neck and-"

"No," Ikon said as he held his hand to his fox like mask that hung onto his neck," not my neck."

"Oh," Lika said, realizing she'd said something wrong," your persona, I wish you would just wear that thing on your face like everyone else." A persona was the mask that true Oina wore, usually covering the face, which represented the spirit animal that they became when they underwent transformation. Oina usually made the masks themselves, but in some cases, like with the priests and priestesses who didn't have one specific transformation.

"This is one of the only reminders I have of her," Ikon said, holding his mask so that he could examine it, then he let it rest and put his hand on a tiny locket that hid inside his bearskin coat," they're the closest things to a burial she's got.

"Very well," Lika said, thinking quickly," then hurry and tie it around your leg or something." The sound came again, seemingly darker and more sinister than the last, it made Ikon's skin crawl, and he'd never heard anything this sinister. Lika had however, and it belonged to only one creature, why did Amaterasu want Ikon fighting him of all people, and how come he wasn't this powerful the last time he'd awoke, there were so many questions left unanswered, and Ikon would have to find the answers to those questions himself.

Let's go, the darkness is getting stronger and we don't have much time to get to ponc'tan, it's protected by the darkness as long as you hold its instrument," Lika said, transforming into an eagle,"we don't have much time, I'll meet you there with the lucky mallet.

"Right. Go on ahead and I'll go through ponc'tan," Ikon said, running his hand through his black and white hair. Lika left through the door of her tent and Ikon followed, outside a storm was brewing, the sky was beginning to turn black and the moon was nowhere to be seen in the sky, but there was no time to be thinking about that now; he wasn't going to make it to ponc'tan unless he transformed.

For normal Oina the transformation was easy, all they had to do was free their spirit from the reality of the mind, it was often snapping your soul back to reality in order to turn back into a human that was hard for all Oina, more often than not the serene feeling of letting go of your worries was almost to hard to give up. Ikon had no trouble doing either, so becoming the kitsune was a simple task for him, and turning back when he was in the clearing that withheld ponc'tan held little trouble for him.

"I'm here Lika, give me the mallet," Ikon said as he looked around for the familiar figure of the eagle he had seen in the priestesses tent.

"I'm here," Lika said, appearing from behind him," seems Namahage are starting to realize the intensity of the darkness and are reacting to it, I had to become a bear in order to get through Yoshpet and dodge them."

"You mean they're flying," Ikon said," the Namahage haven't flown for years, what would make them fly now."

"Only an intense evil, stronger than even the dark lord Yami, now, you have to go into ponc'tan on your own, go as a human, you'll be able to communicate better with them," Lika said, pulling from a pack the same small mallet she had taken from the drawer and hit Ikon over the head with it.

"What was that for, why you had to hit me, "Ikon said as everything around him seemed to be getting larger," oh, I see now??" Ikon was shrunk until he was small enough to enter ponc'tan, whose entrance was a small knothole at the bottom of a stump.

Ponc'tan was like nothing he had ever seen, the walls of the stump that had held the poncle village was covered in a luminescent moss so that everything was bright and happy, the middle of the village held a fountain of spring water that was more than enough for any creature small enough to get in, some of the villager's houses were also lit by small bugs whose hind quarters lit up adding to the bright, warm light of the village.

"Don't get much of your kind around here," a voice said from beside him, he turned to see a small poncle girl smiling at him as she sat on makeshift chair obviously made from the bark of some tree, she had blonde hair that was fell to her side and wore a mushroom shaped cap on her head," Oina are rare anymore in Yoshpet, it must be a real storm outside if you came here."

"I need to find a poncle named Bunshi," Ikon said," there's no time to waste."

"My brother Bunshi, yeah, he can't talk right now, kinda predisposed, but I can help you with whatever you want," the poncle girl said," names Komiya by the way,"

"Can you open the Spirit Gate," Ikon said, hoping to get this over with soon," your grandfather wants me to go there."

"Well if it's something my grandfather wants I guess should help, though if you needed the spirit gate opened then you should have just asked me to begin with, you obviously have been misinformed you dumb mutt."

"I'm a fox, not a mutt," Ikon said, almost changing his mind about letting her help him, but there was still no time," just come with me."


	3. The Moon and Sun's hopes

*Now that I have another story out, I can put this one up too. In addition, I need some reviews*

Chapter 2: The Successor to the Moon

Ikon and Komiya walked out of Ponc'tan together, Ikon growing back to his original size. Lika soon appeared in the clearing as well; she had been in the form of an eagle and appeared to be in bad shape.

"What's wrong Lika," Ikon asked when she returned to her human form in front of them," how bad have things gotten, and more importantly, what did this too you?" Lika caught her breath as Komiya bounced her way up to the top of Ikon's head. She was awfully agile for a poncle.

"It was the Namahage," Lika started after she'd gotten a second wind," seems they're flying again."

"There's no way," Lika inserted," they haven't flown since Amaterasu defeated Yami. Why are they doing that now?" Lika shook her head in answer, and Ikon crossed his arms to think. If the darkness was returning and the Namahage were flying again, plus the fact that the Guardian Trees wouldn't help, then that meant that an even more powerful demon than Yami was out there; it was that evil that was spreading the darkness around Nippon. Now that crazy poncle chieftain wanted him to rid the world of its power.

"Sorry, but I didn't sign up for this," Ikon stated," that crazy poncle told me to do this, but there's no way I can." Ikon started to leave, but Lika was soon in his way in wolf form, blocking his way out of the forest.

"You're not going anywhere but forward from here kid," Lika said, returning to human form when Ikon started to back off," this job wasn't given to you by some aging quack poncle, the gods chose you to do this." Ikon snarled and turned away, his eyes burning with the dangerous rage of the father who never had anything to do with him because of his prejudices toward the normal humans. _If the gods chose me_, Ikon thought_, then they must have chose wrong_.

A sudden scream from the meadow they were standing in caught both Lika and Ikon's attention; a Namahage had sneaked into the meadow, and now had the Lucky Mallet in his hands. The scream had come from Komiya, who had been hit with the corrupted instrument, and was now the size of a normal human being.

At the sight of the Divine instrument on Ikon's back, the Namahage materialized a spear with a point longer than most sword blades. It struck at Ikon, who expertly dodged it and unsheathed the instrument. Ikon swung downwards, but the Namahage parried the blow and turned on Komiya, which it believed to be the weakest of the group.

"Not even," Ikon said as he rushed to stop the Namahage's attack. Ikon was too late to do much other than stand in the way of the attack and let the spear stab through him. The Namahage stabbed through Ikon and flung him forward so that he was soon pinned to a nearby tree.

_That's it, I am dead,_ thought Ikon as a smile crossed his face_, how's that for you, god's._

Is blasphemy really the best way to end your life kid, a voice said, and Ikon looked around. The meadow that he was dying in was no longer there, instead there was now beautiful landscape that seemed like it had been painted onto his sight. In the middle of it all, a large rabbit with a dough-kneading utensil stood before him.

"Oh, and you're not dead," the rabbit said," by the way, I am Yumigami, the god of the moon."

"I know who you are, what do you want with me"

"To the point," Yumigami said, " so this is the one Amaterasu wishes to be my successor, she and Issun sure like foxes lately."

"What's that supposed to mean," Ikon said, putting his hand to the divine instrument at his back.

"That won't do a thing, not strong enough, but I can give you something stronger, in order to protect the poncle girl," Yumigami said, and at the sight of Ikon's surprised face, he smiled and said," that's right, I know how much you like her. What's more, she's now your size, just not an Oina, but you can get over that right? After all, you don't want to end up like your father."

"What do I have to do to get the weapon you want to give me," Ikon said," what blood pact do I have to endure?"

"No blood pact, just your word, and since you like getting to the point quickly, I will. Did you notice how the moon was not shining in the sky, yet yesterday it was full? Well, that's because I am getting weaker with the passing of time, and it does not help that you brought all this darkness. So I just have one wish before I give this weapon to you and make you my future successor, take up the mission given to you by the mother Okami Amaterasu and save Nippon from the darkness. Then you and the poncle can maybe live together."

"Okay," Ikon said, and then to sound more official said," I give you my word." Then a flash of light blinded Ikon and he had another Divine Instrument on his back, this one took the form of a scythe. Ikon noticed that the utensil on Yumigami's back was now missing.

"Use Eclipser, that weapon there, well," Yumigami said. With that, Ikon was brought back to the meadow, and the Namahage was looking at him confoundedly, a sudden light rustling made Ikon look down to notice the small bag at his waist.

"Astral Pouch," Ikon said, smiling at this new revelation," guess Lika knew what she was doing after all. Now, for the matter at hand, starting my new adventure by killing you Namahage." Ikon lifted the Eclipser and sat it with its blade end on his back.

Come to me you monsters," Ikon continued as he saw that the Namahage were now crowding over Komiya," you should quit trying to pick on that nice little poncle girl and fight someone your own size, like the now up-and-coming god, Ikon." The moon shined bright as Ikon smiled and pointed Eclipser at his enemies, now the adventure could truly begin.

Chapter 3: Spirits and Memories of Foxes and Wolves

Issun stood in front of the prison, all around him the demons of Hell were cowering in fear at his mighty blade (and the sight of his fearsome human form.) His eyes were fixed at the cell in front of him; he readied himself for a meeting with a demon from his past.

"What do you want," the young man inside asked," I haven't seen your face in 100 years. Did Amaterasu finally adopt her little pet poncle, or is she fed up with you're filthy mind." The man walked to the bars of the cell, holding two with his hands. His face was badly scarred and his eyes were nearly torn out of his face. The smile on his face only made him more deformed.

Surely you can't be here just to talk," the man continued, his long white hair flowing in front of his face to hide his dead eyes.

"You're right, I wouldn't even try to fight my way through Hell in order to just talk to you," Issun said, as he held Denkomaru to the man's face," instead, I want to make a deal."

"What would that deal be now," the man said, pulling back his face to reveal that the scars he'd had previously were gone. Yet his smile still seemed eerie to Issun.

You must forgive my actions," the man continued, cocking his head to each side as he did so," 100 years of this torment has really done me no good."

"I can see that," Issun said, hoping that this wasn't a stupid idea choosing to revive one of his most hated enemies like this," that's why I'm giving you a second chance at life." At this, the man seemed to brighten up a bit more than usual; his smile even seemed a little less creepy. Issun turned his attention from the man to a lone figure in the cell behind him, a woman in a mauve priestess gown.

"That's," Issun said, remembering the woman's face from long ago," why is she here?"

"When you and Amaterasu defeated me and sent me to this place years ago, Rao's soul was still part of me; thus, she was sentenced to be tormented in this place as well. I think I feel remorse for her, but after a while in this place, you can't really discern between feelings anymore." A pig-looking Hell guardian appeared, trying to make Issun leave.

"This place is for the worst souls," the guardian said to Issun," not for god's like yourself, master Issun."

"So," the man said, acting as if the guardian had never been there," you're a god now, I should count myself lucky."

"Why don't you shut up," the guard said, opening the cell and pulling out the man, the woman Rao followed him closely behind. Her face was full of sorrow and forgiveness at the prisoner who was now being beaten mercilessly by the guard. Whatever he'd done to her, she had seen past that now, maybe even felt some feeling that was new to her now. She could only describe it as love from her memories.

The guard continued his beating on the prisoner, with every strike, Issun's anger grew and grew. _Even my worst enemy shouldn't endure this,_ he thought as he bit down on his lip. The guard even seemed to be enjoying inflicting pain upon him.

"How do you like this, Kyuubi," the guardian said, and his tone only fueled Issun's rage," everything you've done is now being paid back in full."

"Leave him alone," a voice came from behind the guard, and from a staircase in the corridor that was the 3rd level of Hell, a white wolf appeared a look of disgust upon her face.

"Lady Amaterasu," the guard said, snorting like a pig would when he was surprised," I was just punishing this prisoner for-." He tried to continue, but Denkomaru was now sticking through his neck. The guard merely opened his mouth uselessly as blood poured profusely from his neck, and then fell to the ground.

"Sorry, but I can't take anymore lies from that thing's mouth," Issun said then, seeing Amaterasu, added," and he was making me late for our meeting."

"As I told you, I have a lot of forgiveness stacked up for you," Amaterasu said, her head cocking to one side as she examined the many scars covering the prisoner's face once again," you, Kyuubi no Kitsune, look at me." The man did as she said, true fear in his expression, even if he didn't understand fear anymore.

"Yes, milady," Kyuubi said, for his past with her meant nothing to him now, for her forgiveness, if that's the right feeling for him to assume she was feeling, made him owe her his life.

"Issun and I need a weapon against the new darkness, and with the new enemy also being a fox, you are needed to fight him. We are willing to give you freedom, and a new life, if you play your part in fighting him.

"How do you know he is a fox," the man asked.

"Because, he is the father of Onikon, the successor to the moon," Issun said, " the twin tailed fox, Onikage."

"I've heard both of those names before, the boy's mother was human, that hypocrite Onikage was a pure Oina who thought that human and Oina should stay separate, yet he got her pregnant and tried to kill her when he found out. They found out later that she was actually a true Oina who never wore a persona, she died giving birth to him, and he was sealed away in Ezofuji, the kid was given to his grandmother Lika. Oki had become a celestial by that time right?"

"Yes," Amaterasu said, she looked at Issun longingly, not seeming to pay attention to the fact that Rao's spirit was now helping Kyuubi up.

"I'll need a new name for this new chance at life right," Kyuubi said, then looked at Rao and his heart (was it even possible that it could still be beating at all) sped up, this was love. Though he'd never felt it in his past at all, he felt it now.

Can she come too," he asked, not taking his eyes off of her for a second," to keep me …controlled?"

"Don't see why not, you need someone to help you on your travels anyway, besides, you two are too connected to split up," Issun said, turning to Amaterasu," now, I will send you to Nippon, do your part, I will do mine."

The next thing Kyuubi knew, he and Rao were in Wep'keer. They shared one look at each other, and knew exactly what the other felt.

"We need to get somewhere… warmer," Kyuubi said as he shuddered in the cold," to talk about everything, so let's get out of here."

***

They made their way out of Wep'keer, Kyuubi with his hands resting in the pockets of his cloak, his blonde hair blowing slightly in the wind. Rao trying to look at her feet, taking a sideways glance at him every now and then.

"Where are we going to go first," Rao asked in order to break the awkward silence between them.

"Probably the Moon Cave," Kyuubi said, his head turning to the sky to watch the birds fly free.

"And your name?"

"To everyone else from here on, I'm Don Kyuubi, but you can call me Kyuubi kun if it fits you," Kyuubi said, taking her hand and looking deep into her eyes. He looked past her for a moment when he noticed a small little poncle bouncing in order to stay out of the snow behind her.

What do you want," Kyuubi said as he let go of Rao's hand and looked at the poncle sternly.

"I just wanted to start a new adventure in my life, and I came across you guys so," the poncle said, obviously brought to fear by Kyuubi's tone," the name's Bunshi by the way. My sister left with that Oina named Onikon, so I decided to go on my own way."

"Fine," Kyuubi said," you can come with us, we may need a poncle anyway, you have better vision when it comes to finding gods in human form."

"Yes," Bunshi said, bouncing up to Kyuubi's shoulder," so we're going to the moon cave."

"After finding some more fitting clothing," Rao said," ours are kinda tattered up rags."

"Then that's what we'll do first," Kyuubi said, looking at the sky," now, let's get out of this frozen wasteland." Rao and Bunshi left and just as Kyuubi was about to follow, a Namahage's scream was heard nearby, and Kyuubi turned his head toward the sound.

"Looks like I won't be joining the real adventure just yet though," Kyuubi said, and then he turned to follow his new friends.

*Chapter 3 is finished, so now I can get to work on the Key War, plz review and read my other story, I know I may be a noob, but I do believe I should get at least a few more reviews than the one I've gotten so far*


	4. Chapter 5:  Rejuvenated

AN: Haven't worked on this one in a while huh, well, I'm back and better than ever, please read and review, I won't post another chapter if I don't get at least a couple of reviews.

Chapter five: Rejuvenated

It was getting quite easy fighting through the Namahage swarms. So easy, in fact, that Ikon found himself making a game out of it. Finding all the ways he could use Eclipser and Tsutomi Kutone to kill the wretched rejects of Hell.

He actually found it quite a buzzkill when he and his companions made it to the Spirit Gate.

"So what are we supposed to me now," Ikon said, looking toward the others.

"Simple," Komiya said, stepping toward the massive double doors that led to the past," we step inside, after I unlock it of course."

"How do you plan to do that," Lika asked. Her question was soon answered when the young former poncle girl agilely leapt to the top of the gate and unsheathed a strange sword with a large brush on the bottom of the hilt and inserted the sword into the space between the double doors. Komiya then slid downward, leaving a trail of light behind the path her sword made. When Komiya reached the bottom of the doors with the sword, the doors opened and the trail of light became a flowing river of light as the doors opened fully.

They entered the gate and were overwhelmed by the scene before them, they were in a brightly lit field nearby a mysterious river. It was nighttime, which was odd considering the clarity in which they could see the field.

"This is the path to the statue of the great Nagi as it could be seen 100 years ago," Lika said, turning her head left and right in order to take in the enormous field," this is where Amaterasu supposedly began her journey to defeat the dark lord Yami.

"Then it's where we begin our journey to defeat whatever new darkness has been unleashed on the world," Ikon stated, transforming into his fox form," get on my back Komiya, we'll reach the end of this path much faster."

"There is no way I'm riding you bare-back." Ikon didn't answer and instead just grabbed threw her onto her back with his powerful jowls and ran off down the path.

"Just like Issun and Amaterasu," Lika said, as she remembered how the two of them would act around each other 100 years before. She smiled and transformed into a hawk so she may better follow her companions.

They soon reached a gap in the path that they were unable to pass and stooped dead in their tracks. Ikon spotted a white wolf nearby and ordered the others to hide, which they did and he joined them as the wolf strode to the gap and soon afterward a river of stardust filled the gap.

The white wolf swam across the river and Ikon began to follow, but a white dragon soon blocked his path.

"Young one, you aren't of this time, are you,' the dragon spoke. Surprised, Ikon placed his hands upon his weapons but then he relaxed his grip as he stood up straight and stared at the dragon.

"You aren't as dumb as you look young one," the dragon said," I am Yomigami, god of rejuvenation. I see it falls upon me to explain to you what it is you will face on your journey."

You need to know that your actions have freed a dark being stronger than Yami himself. This beast was not so strong once, however, many hears of being sealed away by Kutone has focused the hatred and darkness within its heart and turned it into a beast meant for utter destruction. Its only goal is to destroy the world." Ikon nodded his head to acknowledge the message the dragon was giving him.

The task has fallen upon you to vanquish that demon, I grant you my power of rejuvenation, may it serve you well on this journey Onikon."

A bright light flashed and Ikon and the others were back in the clearing that held the spring gate.

"What just happened," Ikon asked rhetorically. Lika just shrugged her shoulders and Komiya shook her head.

"Whatever happened," Komiya said," doesn't look like the spirit gate is gonna open up again."

"Then we return to Wep'keer," Ikon said, and he lead the way back to his home, feeling ready for anything that came his way.


End file.
